Welcome Home
by Seidou
Summary: Having killed Itachi, Sasuke searches for new meaning in his life. He returns to Konoha, where he finds it in a most unexpected person. NaruSasu


**Title: **Welcome Home  
**Rating: **Will become M  
**Pairing: **_Central Pairing:_NaruSasu (Naruto x Sasuke)  
**Blurb: **Having killed Itachi, Sasuke searches for meaning in his life. He finds it in a most unexpected place. Injured and constantly under the pressure of being watched as a traitor, he begins to reconnect with someone he once called his most precious person. An attempt to get Naruto and Sasuke together in a somewhat believable way.

**Warnings: **Violence, Sex in later chapters

**This chapter's rating: **T

The sun was setting, throwing golden light across the forest. It filtered through the trees, and sparkled off the river's water. The light reflected off the face of a boy in a clearing. It made the blood he was covered in shine in the light, red liquid glittering as it trickled down his face.

The boy was sitting in the dirt, eyes fixed on a body lying nearby. On the ground next to him was a sword, also coated in blood. He could feel tears coming to his eyes, no matter how he tried to stop them. They spilled out and ran down his face, and he reached up to wipe them away angrily, only succeeding in smearing blood across his pale face. He gripped his hair in his fingers, clenching the dark strands, trying to will away this sudden surge of emotion. "No...I've won. I won. I defeated you, I avenged our family. My destiny..."

Sasuke looked once more at the bloody body only feet away, then clambered to his feet, standing unsteadily in the twilight. Blood dripped down his arm and off the tips of his fingers, contributing to the already substantial pool beneath him. Slowly he approached the corpse, looking down at his older brother. His face looked serene, almost peaceful, dark hair scattered across his pale face, the eyes which had haunted Sasuke's dreams for so many years closed as if in sleep.

His chest was ripped open where Sasuke's sword had pierced his torso. Itachi was covered in drying blood, as well as in bruises and cuts, one of his hands missing completely. Sasuke wasn't sure where the appendage had gone; he had sliced it off early in the fight. Now there was a serious matter at hand. Sasuke could not leave the body here. It could be exploited by many who wanted to get their hands on the sharingan. God knows that it would be easy to use Itachi's corpse.

The simplest and most effective way to get rid of the body would be to burn him. Although Sasuke had almost no chakra left, he made up his mind to rid the world of Itachi for good right now. Mustering up his energy, he moved Itachi, crossing Itachi's arms across his chest and took position to set a fireball on him. Standing at his brother's feet, looking down at his dead body, the teenager felt another pang of emotion. His stomach twisted and he bit his lip, feeling his throat tighten.

"Goodbye, Itachi..."

He slowly performed the hand signs, watching as Itachi's body went up in flames. Exhausted, he fell to his knees. He slid backwards to avoid being caught in the fire, and sat in the growing darkness, watching the last member of his family burn.

* * *

Sasuke awoke in the light of the next day. The first thing he noticed was the extreme pain he was in. His head felt like it had been split open, and it was excrutiating to sit up. Pain lanced its way down his spine and up his arm. Taking a deep breath, he tried to take stock of the state his body was in. He thought his right arm might be broken; his left was in a lot of pain as well. There was dried blood smeared across his entire body, including on his face and down the back of his neck.

He rolled over onto his hands and knees and tried to get to his feet. Once standing, he looked around, eyes falling on the ashes of last night's fire. They were still smouldering. Sighing, he stood a while, just staring into the remains of the man he had hated so long.

* * *

Tsunade was a good hokage, really. It wasn't her fault she was so tired that she couldn't stay awake to fill out forms. It was getting dark outside and she was dozing on her desk, exhausted after a long day of ordering about and yelling at assorted ninjas. She awoke suddenly, feeling a presence in her office. Snapping her head up, her jaw dropped and her eyes widened when she saw a missing nin standing only a few feet in front of her desk.

"Uchiha?"

The battered and bloody boy collapsed.

* * *

Naruto stretched his arms over his head as he walked through the Hokage's building. He was heading to the hag's office to turn in his mission report. It had been a smooth, uneventful mission and he grinned as he knocked as loudly and obnoxiously as possible on the door. "Hag!" he screamed through the door, but there was no reply.

Not one to be subtle or considerate, Naruto decided he couldn't be bothered to wait, flinging open the door and barging in. The room was actually empty. Surprised, Naruto huffed, turning around and checking to make sure she wasn't hiding from him.

"Well, fine then." He pouted dramatically to the empty room and turned around to stalk out, only making it halfway down the corridor before he heard a shout. He turned to see Sakura running up behind him, looking pink and flustered. "Ah, Sakura-chan. What's going on?"

Sakura took a moment to gasp for air, before gasping, "Naruto...we have to go to the hospital, now."

"Eh?" Naruto squeaked in surprise, "Why? Is someone hurt?"

Sakura grabbed his hand, looking at him seriously. She looked like she didn't know what to say, just looking up at him with wide teal eyes. She sighed, before murmuring, "Naruto...Sasuke's back."

Naruto paused, looking at her disbelievingly. His mouth opened, but he didn't say anything, quite uncharacteristically. Looking at her eyes, he knew she was not lying. Sasuke was not something Sakura would ever tease him about. He stood stock still for several long, silent moments, just gazing at Sakura's flushed face.

Naruto closed his mouth, swallowed, and opened it again. He found his voice trapped in his throat, and then with one last second of silence, he was gone. Whipping around, she could see a flash of orange turning the corner. She began to follow, as fast as she could go. It took Naruto moments to get to the hospital. Only a few people noticed the orange blur that sped past them, as Naruto jumped from roof to roof to try and get there as fast as possible.

Sakura had no hope of catching up.

He was inside the hospital and stood for a second in the lobby. Thinking for a moment, he rocketed off down a hallway towards the restricted wards. Anbu standing outside started as he ran by. The blonde only stopped when he almost ran straight into Kakashi. "Kakashi-sensei!" he gasped, "Sasuke!"

Kakashi looked at Naruto, who was nearly as tall as him now. He certainly had grown over the past few years. The seventeen-year-old Naruto was almost fully grown, and quite broad. His tanned face was screwed up in an expression radiating desperation. Kakashi could tell he had just run across town, but the boy didn't even seem out of breath. He sighed, and asked "Where's Sakura-chan?"

"Oh!" exclaimed Naruto, looking as if he had totally forgotten about his pink-haired teammate, "I guess she's on her way. I just...ran here."

"Well," said Kakashi, looking serious, "When Sakura gets here, we can go in and talk to Hokage-sama."

And so they stood in the hallway, waiting for the last member of what used to be team seven. Naruto fidgeted agitatedly, pacing the corridor, wringing his hands. When Sakura finally arrived, several minutes later, she was panting and exhausted. "Okay!" exclaimed Naruto, looking at Kakashi frantically, "She's here! Let's see Sasuke."

Kakashi didn't say anything, but turned and knocked on the door of the room by which they were standing. After a moment, it was opened by Tsunade, who beckoned them in. The first thing that Naruto saw was the mop of dark hair in the white bed. He rushed over to stand by the bed, looking down at the boy sleeping there. Sasuke looked almost the same as he remembered. He was older, of course, and parts of his face were bandaged, but essentially, the pale face was the same. His eyes were closed and dark hair fell across his forehead and cheeks, and fanned out over the pillow. His pale pink lips were parted in sleep. He looked more peaceful than Naruto had ever seen him.

He reached out to touch Sasuke, scarcely able to believe that he was actually here. When his hand met Sasuke's bare upper-arm, his breath hitched. He immediately turned and demanded, "What happened? Why is he here?"

Tsunade and Kakashi looked at him. Sakura made her way to the other side of the bed, gently taking Sasuke's hand into her own. Tsunade spoke as the two teenagers looked at their ex-teammate. "I'm not sure how or why he came here. He appeared in my office like this last night. I don't know how he got into the village – let alone into my office – but somehow he appeared here. He has quite a list of injuries..."

There was a long and tense pause before Naruto blurted, "Well?"

Tsunade frowned, "Well, you disrespectful brat, I was getting there." She picked up a medical chart, "Sasuke had some internal bleeding, which we've stopped, several broken ribs and a punctured lung, and numerous cuts and bruises. He has a broken right wrist and he had dislocated his left shoulder. One of the most serious injuries was a severe concussion – something seems to have impacted the back of his head with an extreme amount of force."

There was silence in the small room.

"Will," choked out Sakura, sounding slightly teary, "Will he be okay?"

Tsunade sighed, reaching up to massage her temples. "I think so. It would really depend on how the concussion affects him. If he is able to come out of this unconsciousness, I think he will survive."

There was another pregnant pause.

Finally Kakashi spoke. "Sasuke will be fine."

Naruto saw Sakura scrubbing at her eyes with the back of her hand. He could feel his own eyes starting to water. He didn't hear anything else that was said, all he could do was look at Sasuke's face.

* * *

Naruto was the one sitting in Sasuke's room when he opened his eyes for the first time. He had been there for almost two days straight. Sakura and Kakashi had visited a few times each. The pink-haired girl had brought him food several times, and worried about him every time. She had tried to convince him to go home, but had been met with Naruto's typical stubbornness. He had almost lost it and screamed at her yesterday when she wouldn't stop trying to force him to go back to his apartment. What was really waiting for him there? An unconscious Sasuke was more company than what was waiting for him at home.

It was all worthwhile however when he saw the dark eyes opening. He hadn't seen Sasuke without his Sharingan in the last five years and seeing the dark eyes again was amazing. He could not stop the slight intake of breath. It caught in his throat when Sasuke moved his head slightly until he was looking up at the blonde. Their eyes locked. There wasn't much of a reaction from the dark-haired boy, but his eyes widened slightly. He looked a little confused, so Naruto smiled at him and spoke softly, "You're in Konoha."

The boy's eyebrows turned down and his forehead crinkled, and he opened his mouth. "How?" he gasped, looking almost...distressed. He then licked his lips, fidgeting slightly where he was lying in his pristine bed.

"I don't know," said Naruto, "You just appeared in the grandma's office, no one knows how. We were gonna ask you."

Sasuke frowned and tried to sit up, but the blonde stopped him, "Sasuke, you idiot, stay down. You're really hurt. You look like you lost a fight."

Suddenly Sasuke's whole demeanour changed and he looked scared and alarmed. "What is it, Sasuke?" Asked Naruto, shocked.

Dark eyes rolled to stare at Naruto. "I killed Itachi."

* * *

**AN**: Thanks for reading. Reviews are very much appreciated, including constructive criticism.  
Trust me, it will get better in future chapters when I can actually write some lovely Naruto/Sasuke interaction. Look out for the next chapter coming up soon. 


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